About 50 species: mainly in tropical regions of Africa and Asia; six species in China.

Dracaena, as treated in Dracaenaceae by Bos (in Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 3: 240. 1998), includes the genus Sansevieria Thunberg from Africa to S Asia. If this arrangement is accepted, Dracaena probably comprises from 100--150 species. Dracaena in Asia has been studied very little for several decades. Consequently there are many taxononomic and nomenclatural problems and large numbers of unidentified specimens in herbaria. The present account attempts to identify some of the problems affecting the Chinese species, which can only be properly understood in the context of an in-depth study on the genus throughout tropical Asia.

Plants shrubby or subshrubby, to 5 m tall; leaves spaced along distal part of stems, base usually not completely covering internode; internodes often longer than wide; flowers solitary or in clusters of 2--4, perianth (14--)18--23 mm.